Lake in the Hills OKs nonaircraft in hangars

LAKE IN THE HILLS – The Village Board on Thursday approved allowing people to store items other than aircraft in T-Hangars at Lake in the Hills Airport.

Eleven of the 20 hangars are vacant, even after a six-month incentive program to lure in aircraft. RVs, boats, motorcycles, automobiles, snowmobiles, appliances and furniture are among items the village will allow people to store.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, however, requires that requests to store aeronautical equipment be given priority. So the village can give a 30-day notice to terminate a nonaircraft storage lease to accommodate planes.

The village essentially broke even in terms of the number of tenants when it ran the incentive program. It offered a fuel discount for new tenants and three months’ free rent. Of four potential new tenants, three accepted a one-year lease and one backed out. Meanwhile, two other tenants left the hangars.

The monthly storage rental rates approved by the board are $20 for a 5-by-10-foot space, $30 for a 10-by-10, and $55 for 10-by-30.

Village officials have said the rates are lower than what local storage companies charge, but the hangars are not as weather-tight as some indoor storage units.

As the economy has struggled, fewer people have money for aircraft and flying, which is a relatively expensive hobby, village officials said.